Army Extends Tours Despite 1-Year Pledge

Yahoo News ^ | Wed, Apr 14, 2004 | ROBERT BURNS,

[Kaslin]

I am curious how the left is going to spin this

[bannie]

Time to hire more soldiers.

[Alas Babylon!]

I remember when Clinton promised us we'd be out of Bosnia by Christmas. That was in 1995. I was there.

[Valpal1]

The article title is a good clue to the spin.

Troops have been betrayed, the administration has broken promises, or lied (again).

I am so tired of this leftist carp.

[Kaslin]

And they are still there. I remember it too.

[jospehm20]

Me too. I am still waiting for the media to point that out.

[68skylark]

I am curious how the left is going to spin this.

It's chaos. It's catastrophe. It's a crazy policy to enrich evil contrators that's now spun badly out of control, harming the peaceful people of Iraq and a nice guy like Saddam. How'm I doing?

[nicko]

don't know about the left, but it sucks if you're one of the extended troops...

[Kaslin]

I just went into a political chat room where both left-wingers and republicans and also some Saddam appeasers chat. One of the appeasers from Australia just posted the article and these are some of the replies of some of the left-wingers

1804 PM: Benden -- Wed, Apr 14 6:19pm PST -----

Benden

think about this. in order to keep the peace, saddam needed 400,000 troops, torture and murder and the threat that he would use WMD against his people if they got out of hand. we have a 1/4 of that in troops, no threat of WMD and we typically dont kill people unless necessary.

looking at that comparison, how could one not think that we would have problems keeping that place secure?

This is the picture he is posting as his chat pic I will not post it
http://ghstuffimages.homestead.com/files/bc04.jpg

1805 PM: Redcatcher -- Wed, Apr 14 6:19pm PST -----

Redcatcher...

there will never be enough troops...what a fraud this war is...

This (Saltcloud is the Saddam appeaser

1840 PM: Saltcloud -- Wed, Apr 14 6:28pm PST -----

Saltcloud

Nightowl:

''nightowl Saltcloud.....Blair's wife was in tears when her son was going away to university in Bristol......wonder what they would be like if he was sent to Iraq? ''

Says it all....YOU and YOURS die for my glorification...my aggrandisement... my fame.... my riches.... my POWER.

Bush...(and his thugs)...Blair...and Howard..... et al.

[GraniteStateConservative]

Well, they were told that they'd be done with this term this month. My best friend is in 1AD. He's one of the ones included here. He was supposed to be home, but he's not. His family is upset. They have every right to feel that way. We haven't spent the money to increase counts in the army, so we don't have the boots to boost levels.

[dwilli]

If one of these extendees gets killed or severely maimed
say hello to President Kerry. The mainstream news will
saturate the country with the news and there is no way
to do damage control on that.

[xzins]

There is no active duty soldier who is ever promised anything regarding assignments. Every soldier takes an oath to obey the orders of the officers appointed over....now that part is certain.

[dwilli]

You tell'em Audie Murphy. Hell Getting extended three months in a combat zone ain't a big deal among us couch commandoes.

[gaelwolf]

During WWII, under a Democrat president, my dad was sent to Europe...for the duration. He understood what that meant. His family understood what that meant. He came back several months after the war ended. He was lucky...only he and seven of the other guys in his platoon who shipped over with him were still alive and well.

The guys who were supposed to be coming back from Iraq were projected to be rotated back about now. Conditions have changed. They are being extended. Assignments can change for contingencies at any time. What's so difficult to understand about that?

OK, so a bunch of those folks extended are upset. I would be, too. But my 22 years in the military would make me understand that this was something that could happen.

OK, so a lot of the deployed folks' families are upset. Mine would be, too. I hope, though, that I would have prepared them well enough to be able to weather a contingency-dictated tour extension. If I had failed to do so, that would be my fault.

Hey, we're in the middle of a war! Wars are horrible, messy events, and being caught up in one is absolutely no fun...been there, done that, got the t-shirt. Once started, wars need to be left to the commanders on the ground, politicians need to stay the heck out of the road, and pundits need to do what pundits do.

If Mr. Kerry were any kind of real veteran, he would understand this simple concept and not be working so hard to screw things up and get more American kids killed...cause sure as God made little green apples, that's exactly what he and his buds are doing. If the Democrat power figures and the media had any real loyalty to those kids and their commanders, they would be acting a heck of a lot differently than they are.

[Bombard]

Yes it is tough that your friend will not be coming home when he and his family thought. But that is what can happen when operational needs change. I can tell you have never been in the military or you might be more aware that things like this can happen.

[Timmy]

I've always thought Bush's only mistake was not increasing the size of the military after 911. Clinton took us from 18 to 10 divisions. We should have gone back up to 12-13 after 911.

[xzins]

I've earned the right to an opinion with over 20 years of service....5.5 years of which was unaccompanied.

Any comments?

[dwilli]

Only served eight years myself but to say These Marines and soldiers should just grin and bear it is bullshit. The were promised rotation after 12 months in country.

It's a little different from being extended three months in Sasebo.

[cynicom]

I can remember in 1950 when Truman "extended" enlistments for thousands of men for 9 months. They were not professionals, just volunteers getting a hundred a month.

[xzins]

It is not bullshit....it is their duty.

Let's say that they're allowed to go, but their going results in 10 more Americans being killed in the next 90 days because of undercoverage.

I believe there isn't a single one of them or their families who will not grit their teeth and bite the bullet....honored to be part of keeping a few more Americans alive.

It isn't about promises; it's about lives. They know that.